I came across the cutest homewares and gift shop in Canberra! Lilly Cooper is a small local business and they carry a thoughtful collection of beautiful homeware, lifestyle decor and quirky gifts. At the time of writing, they also had a second pop-up store called The Burrow by Lilly Cooper, which carried an extended range of homewares, gifts and Christmas themed items.
The item that first caught my attention was the Paola & Joy Cora Floor Lamp in their window. I’d been obssessed with that design for the past few weeks, but this was first time that I had actually seen it in person.
Drawn like to moth to a hypothetical flame, Lilly Cooper was a hidden gem—an entire Wonderland to be explored.
“A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
As I mentioned earlier, this was my first time seeing the Paola & Joy lamps in person and, my gosh, they are absolutely stunning! I’m the most drawn to the Cora Table Lamp and would have loved to see it in more colour combinations too. Their Mila Table Lamp looked like a great alternative too, with a more solid body and also a (slightly) more subtle wavy lamp shade design. The store assistants reassured me that both of them are fairly easy to clean, but I imagine that the Mila Table Lamp moreso.
We took the opportunity to pick up a couple of gifts, including something from their Kids & Baby range – which perfectly balances cute, artistic aesthetics with functionality. Frankie Fox here caught our eye too: he’s a firefighter with a love for climate action and Acai Bowls! This same character is also available as a Teether or Comforter.
These beautiful homewares from Sage & Clare stood out to me right away. I was especially in love with the coasters but, in general, I always love poured resin. The shapes themselves are reminiscent of Dinosaur Designs (another incredible Australian design studio), but the use of colour and the Terrazzo design is distinctive and unique.
These are handcrafted and each piece is completely unique, so they can be on the pricier side.
For people who love soft, pastel colours and have a penchant for being a little clumsy, I thought that these Silicone Drinkware sets by Porter Green were genius! They looked so much like resin poured drink ware from a distance so I was surprised when I touched them. These are made from a semi-soft silicone, so it can be bent and packed away for travel, but are still sturdy enough to be used as a regular ‘glass’.
The soft pink and blush colour ways are super pretty too, so it’s the perfect combination of aesthetics and functionality.
Canberra isn’t usually at the top of my list for travel locations, but it’s great for short trips. They have some great restaurants and a lot of cute local businesses like Lilly Cooper. I love that their store range feels very thoughtfully curated so it’s full of fun, quirky gifts and beautiful creative homewares. The Paola & Joy Cora Floor Lamp was definitely the highlight of the store!
One thing to note is that Lilly Copper doesn’t do change-of-mind refunds, only exchanges. We had to exchange a gift so we had to find something that was the same or of a slightly higher value, as we didn’t want to waste money on small trinkets we weren’t going to use. So with that in mind, make sure that you’re certain of a purchase before buying it!
If you’re in Canberra, you can find their store in the Style Arcade in Manuka, which will have the widest range, or you can also head over to their online store.
